Somewhere in the Stratosphere
by Lavenderpaw
Summary: It's a very platonic relationship. States one unusual character.


**A/N: **So, yeah, Crossover time!

In an unnamed city…

Sunlight glinted over the expanse of ice that twisted around; leaving irregular tracks that could have been some starving artist's attempt at fame with an abstract sculpture. Having secured his goggles tightly around his face, Frozone advanced on his back-turned quarry. It was a large iron levitation that looked capable of extraordinary devastation before him.

"Takin' you out, tin-man." He grinned, frost seething through his teeth, "And not on no date, neither." As the man approached the wasp-waisted behemoth; an oddity appeared.

It was in the form of a sixteen --- maybe seventeen --- year-old young man atop the man of metal's shoulder. Curiously, Frozone directed his ice-forming abilities to rotate up in mid-air and form an arc about thirty-feet from the robot's head to get a better look now.

He scratched at his own head as he saw the creature, the teenager and a senile gentleman in the midst of discussing something around the basis of geography. Frozone could have fallen right off of his sculpted water wave for the wrongs that were appearing in his logic.

"I promise you… by the year 2050, half of America's going to be a wasteland!"

"Now, son, the only way you could know that is by time-traveling."

The teenager and his 'companion' shared knowing looks.

"'Scuse me." Frozone called down to them. "Someone wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

"Oh, hey. You must be one of those new Super guys who came out of hiding."

He raised a brow at the red-brown haired kid's smart comment. "And you are?"

"Hogarth Hughes," the boy thumped the robot's shoulder, giving the Super a friendly but deliberate look. "And this is my friend, the Iron Giant." His meaning deepened. "A friend who saved my entire hometown once. So," Hogarth grinned wryly. "Who might you be?"

* * *

"So, who're we going after Dad?" Dash asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in his car seat. They were speeding through the bustling city in high gear, cranking the new car that had been provided to them by Mirage called the Super Speedster. His parents exchanged tolerant looks, zipping through the masses in stylish, shadow-sliding, holographic cover.

"Do you always have to ask questions, brain-zilla?" Violet asked, fumbling with her lisp.

"Speaking of which," Dash blanched. "Is that a robot?" he gulped.

They heard their parents' quick intake of breath as a towering sight made them wince.

"Just a soulless machine, kids. Take him out at all costs." Their father told them, gritty.

Dash grinned devilishly.

"Bob?"

"Dear."

"What'd you think?" Helen smoothly recovered, "remote-controlled or cockpit-enabled?"

"If it's anything like the last robotic menace I fought, it will be able to copy our moves and send them back just as strong if not stronger." Bob clutched at the leather head rest and peered back at his children. "Kids, I'm going to ask you to stay inside so Mom and-."

Violet was just finishing up the final touches of tilting the baseball cap upon the knapsack.

"Well," she flashed a nervous grin. "I guess we won't be going to anymore games soon."

* * *

"So you saved an entire town my headbuttin' a nuke into space?"

"Pretty incredible, huh?" Hogarth said solemnly, sending his friend a grateful look.

"You make it out to be more of a big deal then it is." The Giant told him, quietly bashful.

"It_ is_ incredible." Frozone encouraged. "Mr. Iron Giant, it sounds like you are something very special to your friend here and I apologize." He held a hand out to him. "I misjudged you." Hogarth nudged the Giant slightly with his elbow as they shook hand inside fingers.

The man of ice paused from shaking Hogarth's and folded his arms undeterminably.

"I forget… you are?"

He lifted a brow. "Why haven't you heard? I'm… _the Garth man_."

The Giant sent him an amused look. "Hogarth." He said.

"So you 'aint got no powers?"

"Ta! _Of course _I have powers," Hogarth insisted, "why wouldn't I have powers?"

Frozone kept him under heavy scrutiny.

"OK! So I don't have powers…"

"Well, don't take any offense to it kid, but aint you a little bit, er, little to be hangin' out with uh, well, with a giant?" as he said this the Giant sent him a wide-eyed look. "What?"

"We get by." Hogarth answered simply, slipping his friend a look to ease his concerns.

The Giant tilted his head thoughtfully and looked back to Frozone. "It's difficult to really describe," he explained in his deep, baritone voice, "We help each other in certain ways."

"You mean like a boy and his robot?"

Hogarth pressed his lips into a line. "Not really. It goes deeper then that. Like we said-."

"So you still aint got no powers?" Frozone pressed him, smirking a bit.

"See, _that's _where you're getting on my nerves." Hogarth went on, took a breath and then said. "Look, palsy, I don't have super powers. No. But powers and I co-exist in a usually calm, live-and-let-live way. They don't have me and I don't have them, it's an unusual platonic relationship." Frozone stared at him with open astonishment, then to the Giant.

"Everyday?" He said with a creased jaw, expecting a resigned, heavy admission.

Instead, the two looked at each other and the robot met his eyes for _him_ to consider.

"Every day."

"I ramble." Hogarth admitted with a shrug. "In all seriousness, we're friends. That's it."

Frozone nodded his acceptance. _That better just be it._

In a split second, the teenager was missing from atop the Giant's shoulder.

"GIIIIIIANNTT!" Hogarth yelled as he was carried away by a streak of red and blonde.

* * *

A car swooshed up to the scene.

"Let go of me you little sun-haired squirt!" Hogarth shouted further, getting a firm hold on the boy and throwing him across one of the buildings they were quickly ascending. It took all of five seconds for the panting, brown-leather-jacket clad teen to get composure.

Dash folded his tiny arms. "I put you down." He pointed. "Now how does _that_ work?"

Hogarth brushed his jacket off, he then unwrapped a stick of spearmint gum and plopped it in his mouth. "How about this," he opened both flaps of his jacket, "you in to comics?"

The kid's face dropped. "That's --- that's Superman issue number _one_!"

"And if you take me back over to the robot…"

Dash grinned, wiles high today. "… I get both that _and _the rest of your gum."

Hogarth buttoned his jacket back up and sat down cross-legged, staring straight into the child's eyes. "Don't overestimate yourself, little pal," he said. "And no, I wasn't offering you one of my comics. I want you to think about what kind of hero you'll grow up to be."

"Dad and Mom said I can take out anyone who threatens us." Dash rebuked.

But as he started away, Hogarth argued calmly. "Little speedster, don't attack the Giant."

"You don't have any powers," the boy said, tightening his mask, "don't give me orders."

"Don't use weapons, kid." The much older boy's warning was stricter this time.

"Humph. Why?" Dash scoffed.

"Trust me," was his dark reply, "experience."

The child stuck out his tongue and took off.

Hogarth sighed, blew a bubble and opened his comic book.

* * *

As Dash neared his adversary, he saw that the large robot was watching his parents with careful eyes. Frozone was waving his arms around and he took that as meaning some real trouble afoot. Violet appeared then and the two merged into one hamster-like, inviso-ball.

"Guys!" Frozone was trying to take hold of the situation. "No!"

But it was too late, Elasti-girl was already bound to two street lamps and Mr. Incredible was busy pushing back into her stomach area. The Giant shook his head and hands in an attempt to stop them, but Bob just narrowed his eyes and sprung forth into the air with a merciless glint in his eye for the robot. The Giant narrowed his shutters, plucked the man right out of thin air and threw him back down before he could blink with his pivotal waist.

Frozone made an attempt to divert their attention, but the Incredible family remained just as stubborn as always. Robot + City equaled potential danger; there was no room for any consideration. As the child ball reared back into their mother's stretchy waistline, the big robot sighed heavily and lowered his arms; he could never fight back with kids involved.

The ball flung into the air and just as it was about to make contact --- it split a part. Dash hovered in mid-air and flew forward. _Soulless machine, _his father's voice echoed inside.

"What're you waiting for, Dash!?" Violet called up to him, caught by her mother.

The Giant raised his white eyes and made contact with the boy's. Entranced by the robot, Dash slowed down and landed gently in the robot's palm. He stood there calmly. "You… you're not gonna hurt us?" the robot shook his head gently. "My dad's not gonna like it."

"If-."

A large chunk of debris hurling by nearly missed his head, to which he easily dodged.

"Be careful," The Giant told him.

He caught hold of the force field that Mr. Incredible was now being flung in, untangled Elasti-girl from her posts and gently placed Dash inside the family unit bubble. Frozone suddenly appeared with Hogarth riding mutually on his shoulder before slipping off. The three would-be heroes stood, open-mouthed, as the Giant gave all of them some advice.

"Even Atomo can be a Superman." He then laced the rubber-band woman in his fingers, aimed the still too-stunned-for-words family toward the setting sun and, giving Dash an important look, sent them all jettisoning into the beginning of twilight. Hogarth smiled.

"Well," He looked up at the wistful Giant, "Looks like we all win."

"Hmm?"

Hogarth glanced down at the Super Speedster. "I get a hot new ride; you get the hottest toy on the market. It'll be a very platonic relationship." They all laughed deeply at his idea.

* * *

Meanwhile the superhero knock-offs got a firsthand experience at the upper stratosphere.

"Helen?"

"Yeah Bob."

"...If you could have a waistline like that."

_Whack!_

Dash smiled out of the force field as they orbited the earth, watching a strange satellite.

"Sputnik." Violet told him, also smiling.

The End.


End file.
